Chess Scotland Junior Chess Business Plan: consultancy project

October 31, 2006

Following a successful application to Awards for All for a £5,000 grant to appoint consultants to help the national federation develop a junior chess business plan, Chess Scotland has commissioned Frances Benton and George Carlaw to undertake the project.

 

Frances and George will work with Chess Scotland and the wider schools / junior chess community to review Chess Scotland's essential purposes, policies, programmes, organisation and financial arrangements and bring these together in a prioritised, budgeted junior chess business plan.

 

These are not “dry” issues. Businesses do not attract investment without good business plans. Our consultants have a particular strength in fund raising and we hope in particular that the Project will radically improve Chess Scotland's performance in this regard.

 

We need to think “big” about projects, services, branding, marketing and partnerships. If this implies new organisational, staffing and financial structures, what might they be? How might all our plans be prioritised, implemented and afforded?

 

The project brief and timescale

 

Our consultants have a wide consultative, facilitative and report writing brief. They will directly engage with individuals in Scotland at all levels of the schools / junior chess community, at the Scottish Executive, local authorities, comparator organisations and within FIDE (World Chess Federation).

 

To ensure the widest involvement of everyone in Scotland who has an interest, Chess Scotland will periodically trawl views on specific subjects suggested by our consultants through requests at the Chess Scotland Education Page.

 

The project will progress in several stages:

 

• an initial round of fact-finding and discussions followed by a feedback and focus group session on the weekend 25 /26 th November

 

• a second round of deepening investigation followed by a further feedback and focus group session on 20 th January

 

• delivery of a final draft report and full business plan, initially to the chess Scotland junior board, by end-February.

 

I would encourage everyone with an interest in schools / junior chess in Scotland to contribute. I will be happy to receive contributions outside of the processes outlined above at any time throughout the project at schools@Chessscotland.com .

 

Craig Pritchett

October 2006